What do rebetika & neorebetika say about Greek philosophical and religious attitudes?

At 3:30AM Xanthi time on 25 December (Christmas morning for the "Franks"), Glenti 101.1 FM played this unbelievably great song:

Μπάρμπα Γιάννη - 1972
http://www.stixoi.info/stixoi.php?in...&song_id=14978
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3yU_HJMI_4 (the images on this clip are terrific also)

with English translation:

Uncle Giannis you got old
You faced many storms
And death came to take you
You were always like our brother
And you never spoiled our fun
Now I ask you a favor once more

Send me a letter from the underworld
And tell me if light is better than darkness
Light we got here as well
Dear uncle Giannis as you know
But what shall I do with light ?
Here where the hearts are so dark

Good old Giannis my friend
Send me a sign
Your Bouzouki is waiting as well
Here the same things as usual
Suffering pain and crying
What's going on in the underworld anyway

Notice that in this English translation, there is no reference to Christian "heaven" or hell" - just to the "underworld", the land of Hades.

So if the translation is accurate, it makes you wonder a little bit if Greeks really ever were COMPLETELY "Christianized", or whether down deep secretly, they still believe a little bit in the old gods.

Well, anyway, this song definitely has one of the greatest last lines of any song in the 20th century, at least as translated into English:

"What's going on in the underworld anyway?"

I hope the translation is correct, and that the line is as funny in the original Greek as it is in English.

(I will also do a second post in this thread about this song and how it reflects what might be called Greek "fatalism", or Greek "existentialism" (the Kazantzakis variety), depending on how you look at it.

I mentioned I was going to do a second post about the song Μπάρμπα Γιάννη, so here it is.

Well, let me start by saying that if you read the very last ten lines of:

http://www.angel.net/~nic/askitiki.html

you will see why these line got Nikos Kazantzakis into trouble with the Greek church.

But to Kazantzakis, these lines express one basic "juxtaposition of opposites" that no church understands: we must simultaneously believe while acknowledging the foolishness of belief. (This is where his philoophy is related to certain varieties of existentialism.)

And to me, there are certain rebetiko bouzouki songs which contain the same kind of juxtaposition of opposites - the words of the song speak to the misery of the human condition, but the bouzouki accompaniment speaks to the fact that we are somehow able to transcend this misery and find some value in life.

That is why this music speaks to us so deeply. (In the same way, the "deep" zeibekiko dance speaks to our need to reaffirm life by dancing despite our anguish.)

And that is why these lines:

"Your Bouzouki is waiting as well
Here the same things as usual
Suffering pain and crying"

of the song Μπάρμπα Γιάννη are so powerful even though they are so simple.

Yes, life is a miserable business, but there is always the bouzouki, waiting for someone to play it and help us to transcend the misery.

I didn't say any of that very well, but fortunately, the very same basic idea is actually expressed in this rebetiko song:

Glenti 101.FM (1005AM Xanthi time 25 December)
Το βουνό - 1952
http://www.stixoi.info/stixoi.php?in...ls&song_id=809
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJdJAXHbDQ0

Here is one English translation:

I will climb up and I will sing,
on the most highest mountain,
I will make my pain heard in the wilderness
with the beat of the music.

Of the mountain I will make my friend,
and of the pine trees, my companions
When I cry and suffer pain,
it is the mountain that will sigh.

High on the mountain I will remain,
and far from the world, away.
I will cry alone, I will suffer pain,
and the mountain will listen to me.

Originally Posted by David Halitsky

... if the translation is accurate, it makes you wonder a little bit if Greeks really ever were COMPLETELY "Christianized", or whether down deep secretly, they still believe a little bit in the old gods.

Merry Christmas David!

Thank you Amethystos.

But I was hoping you'd tell me if the translation of the last line of the song is accurate:

"What's going on in the underworld, anyway?"

Is it meant to be a humorous line in the original:

"Στον κάτω κόσμο τέλος πάντων τι συμβαίνει"

I think it is meant to be funny, because one doesn't normally think of asking someone about what's happening in the underworld, the way you would if you were talking to a friend who just happened to live in a different city.

Originally Posted by David Halitsky

But I was hoping you'd tell me if the translation of the last line of the song is accurate:

"What's going on in the underworld, anyway?"

It is accurate.

Originally Posted by David Halitsky

Is it meant to be a humorous line in the original:

"Στον κάτω κόσμο τέλος πάντων τι συμβαίνει"

Not at all.
The whole set of lyrics can't be more tragic while simultaneously being simple for people who lack basic education,
like the ones Yiannis Papaioannou wrote his songs for.

The whole song is a "moaning" for the loss of Yiannis Papaioannou.
Like if an old friend of his, is trying to communicate with him.

Originally Posted by David Halitsky

I think it is meant to be funny, because one doesn't normally think of asking someone about what's happening in the underworld, the way you would if you were talking to a friend who just happened to live in a different city.

Chaotic differences in the way of thinking between different groups of people, differences that created what we call "nations".

Let's say that traveling in the underworld to find the one you love is NOT such a strange thinking for Greeks
since it is many times referred in our mythology.

You wrote:

"Not at all. The whole set of lyrics can't be more tragic while simultaneously being simple for people who lack basic education,
like the ones Yiannis Papaioannou wrote his songs for. The whole song is a "moaning" for the loss of Yiannis Papaioannou.
Like if an old friend of his, is trying to communicate with him."

Yes I understood that the whole song is a "moaning" (English "lament"), but I thought maybe the last line was to lighten the mood a little bit, because the song IS so "heavy".

Thank you for having the patience to explain - I understand better now. The singer is actually trying to start a conversation, hoping that Papaioannou will actuall answer.

Originally Posted by David Halitsky

Thank you for having the patience to explain - I understand better now. The singer is actually trying to start a conversation, hoping that Papaioannou will actuall answer.

Thank you for making all these useful for the future readers questions!

Amethystos -

Here's another very "heavy" song with a specific mythological reference (to Charon, this time.) Really beautiful song ... just beautiful.

Το παράπονο του ξενιτεμένου ( Σαν απόκληρος γυρίζω ) - 1950
http://www.stixoi.info/stixoi.php?in...s&song_id=2413
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zue1b0ZgCqg

Πάρε χάρε την ψυχή μου
Ησυχία για να βρω
Αφού το θέλησε η μαύρη μοίρα
Μες τη ζωή μου να μη χαρώ

Charon take my soul
So that I can find my peace
Since it was destined by my dark faith
In my life to find no happiness

(I'm assuming here the translation of χάρε as "Charon" is accurate.)